Strange Bedfellows
by ScorplinginTraining
Summary: 'Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.' - William Shakespeare from 'The Tempest'


STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

**AN: I guess I'm doomed to keep fixing this mess the show runners left for us. There seems to be no end to the ideas. They keep coming and demanding to be written. **

**oxoxoxoxoxo**

"You're a total moron. You know that?"

It wasn't the first time Tim Armstrong came swaggering obnoxiously into the garage as if he belonged there. Which he didn't. But the former SEAL/former Homeland agent/current private security… whatever had _never_ been a more unwelcome sight. And that was really saying something.

Not only that, but prior to the invasion, Walter had been sitting there believing it was statistically unlikely his day could get any worse. Wrong again. He'd only just hung up the phone after finding out Scorpion 2.0 had lost the Gettelman contract. Centipede had slithered in and stolen it.

Enter Timothy with his unsolicited opinion.

Walter raised a single sarcastic eyebrow. "What does that make you, then? The intellectual equivalent of an amoeba?" He inquired sourly.

"Probably. Considering I'm here," Tim muttered to himself.

"Yes. About that. Why _are_ you here?" The genius felt no need to pretend to be polite any more. He let every ounce of the built up resentment and animosity toward the other man, all the stuff he'd attempted to suppress – not always successfully- when Paige was around and cared about Walter and his EQ development, bubble to the surface and liberally infuse his tone.

"I'm here in an attempt to help you." The uninvited visitor strolled over and lingered like a foul odor beside Walter's desk.

"By calling me a moron? Not helpful in the least. Mission not even remotely accomplished…"

Tim interrupted with an exasperated sigh. Running a frustrated hand down his face, he replied, "No. I came to talk some sense into you and seeing you here by yourself without the team… Without… Well, without Paige. It pissed me off."

"Why? Because you wanted to find her here and win her back for yourself? If you promise you'll leave immediately after, I'd be glad to get you her new office number," Walter sneered.

"Shut up and listen to someone else for a change, will ya? I came to tell you I saw Ralph today. I've been back in the states for barely three months and I just happened to 'run into' him. Imagine that. I don't think it was a coincidence."

That brought the genius up short. He'd been starved for news about the boy. Losing Ralph left a huge, echoing hollow in Walter's middle. He missed him so much he positively ached with it.

"How is he? Did he look okay? How's he doing with that course at Cal Tech? See, I recommended it and he was having some issues when…"

"Stop. He's not okay. He's wrecked over this whole thing. He lost his family and his best friend all at once. How do you think he's doing? And hell, you gotta know he'd have to be desperate to reach out to _me_, right?"

Walter blinked at the other man. He wasn't wrong. Concern was morphing quickly into worry. "What can I do? His mother won't allow me to contact him. She hates me."

Tim's lips twitched, then he burst into irritating, braying laughter.

The genius scowled at him. "I fail to see the humor. Wait. Are you enjoying this?" He asked, his disgust blatant. "Did you come to rub my face in it? Do you want me to admit that Paige was better off with you? Happier with you? That I was a fool to even try? Okay, fine." He threw his hands up. "You were right. You can go now."

"Seriously? Will you quit with all the posturing and listen? Do you have any clue why I split up with her?"

"It never came up. I was always curious, but I was… giving her space. Like-like a good, um, boyfriend," Walter answered defensively, still annoyed with the other man laughing at his expense.

"Because she was spending more and more time with _you_. She was constantly blowing off Skype dates with me to be with you. And when I did manage to get a hold of her? She talked about nothing but 'Walter did this' and 'Walter said that' and 'Isn't he really just everything that's amazing?' Dude, she wouldn't shut up about you and how incredible you were with her son. With Happy and Toby's wedding. How proud she was of your EQ progress. How brave and smart you were. How hard you were trying. It made me sick after a while. So, I accepted the extension on my contract and I cut my losses."

Walter snorted. "Well, she got over that. She discovered pretty quickly being with me wasn't what she wanted after all. Believe me, she made it very clear when she listed all my short-comings and dumped me in front of everyone." The memory still brought a crushing sense of humiliation and hurt with it.

"Look, I know I'm the last one you'd seek out for advice…"

"You've got that right. Correct twice in one encounter. Must be a new record for you," Walter mumbled.

Tim ignored the jibe and continued, "… but I know what she really wants here. And this _sure_ isn't it."

When the genius still appeared skeptical, the other man offered, "You remember in Ireland when I gave you that advice about how to handle bullies?"

"Yes. Because you used to be one so you know first hand how they operate. And what were you even doing there anyway? You never met my sister. Were you Paige's _date_ to _my_ sister's funeral?" That was another question he'd never posed to his ex girlfriend in order to avoid an argument by dredging up the past, but he'd always secretly wondered.

"Cabe asked me to go since Happy couldn't and he knew you'd had some trouble with a of couple guys in your hometown when you were a kid. He thought I could help look out for you. But that's not the point. I was right about how to handle that situation…"

"Okay. I can accept you could help me in that instance because of your past experience. But you've never been Paige and your relationship with her didn't work out either, so why are you suddenly the expert this time?"

Tim shook his head at the stubborn expression on Walter's face. "I may know a thing or two about women in general and I may know one or two things about this one. But whatever. I'm done. If you're too pig-headed to accept my help…" The man held up his hands and turned to go.

Walter should've felt relieved. But he didn't. Any ally was better than none. Because almost any life was better than the one he was currently living. "Let's just say I'm curious. What's your 'brilliant' advice then?" He called toward Tim's back.

With his hand on the knob, Tim gritted his teeth and took a few deep breaths before he turned back around to face the other man, "Paige plays a good game, but underneath, she's very insecure. Your little non-date hit her right where it hurts, so she hurt you where she knew it would do the most damage. But what she _really_ wants from you is for you to go after her. Tell her you can't live without her. Show her you need her. She hates it, but she wants and needs you too. Heaven only knows why. She tries to convince herself she doesn't. That's the whole motivation behind her starting that stupid ass company. You need to take charge like you do during cases. You need to go in there and tell her how you want it to be. That's the guy she fell in love with. The rude, inconsiderate bastard. I'm guessing you were too timid, too afraid to rock the boat during your relationship. Always giving in to her because you figured she was the love expert and knew better than you. It's time to be assertive. Go after what you want with confidence. Like you do in every other area of your life."

The former SEAL flung the door open as Walter asked quietly. "What if… What if you're wrong?"

"Ask yourself this: What exactly have you got left to lose?" With those parting words, Tim Armstrong sidled out of Walter's life once more.

oxoxoxoxoxo

Paige sat at her beautiful, brand new desk in her plush new office. She'd bought the furniture and the décor as a little victory present when Centipede got paid after its first contract job.

She told everyone she was thrilled, even managed to paste on a smile when they'd had a party – what Toby deemed a 'Suck It, Scorpion Party' - to celebrate. She convinced herself for a few brief moments here and there. Most of the rest of the time, when other people were present, she could fake it.

But when she was alone…

She hated it. All of it. It felt all wrong. _She_ felt all wrong.

And she was already so tired of feeling wrong.

Just then she heard some kind of commotion coming from the conference room. Paige couldn't tell what was being said. She only heard raised voices. And her heart leapt when she distinctly recognized one of them.

Walter.

What was he doing there?

It took her a minute to start breathing again. She stood to her feet and almost slid back down onto her chair because her knees were barely able to hold her. She felt shaky and weak.

What was he doing there?

As she strode down the hall toward the noise, shoulders back, head high even when her insides were quaking. Only one thought was swirling around and around and around in her mind.

_What was he doing there_?

"I refuse to believe that premise," He was insisting to the team. _Her_ team. "We've proven it time and again. On the island. On the baseball diamond. On every case we've ever worked. We're family and we're better _together_. No matter what."

His back was to her, but when Paige entered the room, Walter must have sensed it because he turned first his head, then his whole body around to face her. All of his laser focus was centered squarely on her.

"What do you think you're doing here?" She demanded sharply.

He didn't answer. At least not right away. Not with words at any rate.

In two strides he was directly in front of her, almost toe to toe. His jaw was set in determination and he had a dangerous glint in his eye she found challenging and the tiniest bit exciting.

Before Paige could react, Walter placed one hand on her waist and the other one behind her neck. The next thing she knew, his lips were on hers.

And she forgot they were in a room full of people. She forgot she'd broken up with him. She forgot why she was mad at him. Holy hell, she even forgot her own name for a few glorious seconds.

When the claps, whistling and cheers reminded her, she drew away and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"What the hell was that, Walter?" She asked breathlessly.

"I came here to tell you I love you, I need you and I want you back. I know I screwed up…"

"You can say that again," Her words lacked conviction because they came out all wobbly.

"But I'm not the only one. We belong together. You know it. You can't tell me you're happy like this. I can tell you I'm not and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to fix this."

A hush fell over the room as they stared at each other for a few long minutes. She searched his face. What was she fighting against? She was miserable too. Nothing about the separation was right. Hadn't she just been thinking that?

Paige simply shrugged and said, "Okay." Her lips curved up in a little smile.

And more cheers, louder than before, erupted as they kissed again.

In the darkest back corner of Walter's mind, the only part still processing rational thought, was giving a firm nod of acknowledgement to his long ago nemesis. Perhaps even Timothy Armstrong occasionally had his uses.


End file.
